Brother, I understand the point you are making, and what you have said thus far is true, however, it misses the point I'm making: the context of the tract illustrates what "special prayer" means, and it is not at all what you've described, for I too, by your definition, was also saved by 'special prayer', but that is not the case, because you have conflated 'special prayer' with repentance.
Repentance is a special prayer, but the repentance proves itself true by the fruits of repentance (See
post #654 for my biblical defense of repentance). If there is no fruit (
putting away sin, good works, holy living, etc.) then the repentance (
i.e. special prayer) was not genuine. This is what the Parable of the Two Sons is about (See: Matthew 21:28-32). One of several problems I had with the tract is that it condemns the sinner's prayer altogether. It does not condemn just doing the “
sinner's prayer alone” (
with no fruit or changed life). Please show me where in the tract it supports the “sinner's prayer” as long as it is coupled by a changed life with good works. Please give me the exact page number.
You said:
The prayer of repentance is not the magical incantation most preach, but the expression of someone who has believed the gospel, and has called on Christ to be their Lord: this is the commencement of a relationship, that requires faithfulness.
What do you mean by magical incantation?
I have never heard of any witchcraft involved in the altar call or inviting a person to accept Jesus and seek forgiveness with Him.
How is that like a magical incantation?
Yes, they do not preach Sanctification for salvation.
This is false. But the part about about accepting Jesus as one's Savior is not false. I have never heard Belief Alone churches preach to others that they must accept Jesus based on the condition that they trust in Christ alone for salvation and that they must live sinful and or not lift a finger for God. I have never seen any such conditions given in their call for people to do the Sinner's Prayer. Granted, they teach against Sanctification for salvation subtly elsewhere but that is at another time.
A person can accept Jesus as their Savior and be saved by hearing a prosperity preacher on TV. This does not mean they should follow their teachings, though. This does not mean that their prayer was not genuine, either.
You said:
Most Mega-Churches treat the prayer of repentance, that calls on Christ to be your Lord, as a light thing, to be done after service by raising your hand; no, it is done after hearing the gospel, and it is done by calling on Christ to be your Lord, which is then immediately followed by obedience to Him in baptism, which is the first answer of a good conscience towards Him.
“What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” (Philippians 1:18) (KJV).
The word “pretence” in Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary.
PRETENSE, noun pretens'. [Latin proetensus, proetendo.]
1. A holding out or offering to others something false or feigned; a presenting to others, either in words or actions, a false or hypocritical appearance, usually with a view to conceal what is real, and thus to deceive. Under pretense of giving liberty to nations, the prince conquered and enslaved them. Under pretense of patriotism, ambitious men serve their own selfish purposes.
The NIV in this particular instance agrees with our beloved King James (that is our final Word of authority).
“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,” (Philippians 1:18) (NIV).
You include the “
prayer of repentance” in salvation (within your discussion here), but the tract does not agree with you.
It is true that most do not preach Sanctification as a part of salvation; But that should not undermine being saved by the “Sinner's Prayer” (Which is biblical).
I have heard preachers preach against the Sinner's Prayer. This is wrong. The Bible teaches it. I believe it is one of the most important ways a person can receive God's grace.
Christ commanded His ministers to preach His gospel, in His way, yet I don't see that anymore, but well meaning believers don't think it's a big deal, and Satan quickly agrees.
What is the gospel according to the Bible?
1 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
The gospel according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 is:
#1. Believing (vs. 2) Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures (vs. 3).
#2. Believing (vs. 2) He (Christ) was buried (vs. 4).
#3. Believing (vs. 2) He (Christ) rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures (vs. 4).
That's it! That's the gospel, my friend.
Any other kind of gospel is
another gospel.
You said:
No, brother, special prayers cannot save, but calling out to Christ to be your Lord, and then getting baptized in His name, does.
Special prayers can save. We see this truth in Luke 15:18-21, and Luke 18:9-14. Yes, it is true, that we also need to declare “Jesus is Lord” (if it is possible). This is generally done when we seek forgiveness with the Lord. We do need to declare that Jesus is Lord at some point early on in our Christian walk (if such a truth is within our grasp or capabilities). The man who is on his deathbed who does not have a lot of time before he dies can just believe in the name of Jesus for salvation and be a son of God according to John 1:12. Either that, or they can receive Him (via by a special prayer, i.e. the “Sinner's Prayer.”). The thief on the cross was not baptized and yet he was saved. Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before being water baptized (Acts of the Apostles 10:44-48). Obviously only a saved person can receive the Spirit. Peter says in 1 Peter 3:21 that baptism does not save us in putting away the filth of the flesh. The words “filth of the flesh” is in reference to sin because similar words were used in 2 Corinthians 7:1. Granted, a believer will want to be water baptized so as to obey the Lord, but finding those right believers to be baptized by is extremely difficult. I believe we are living in the last days as per 2 Timothy 3:1-9.
You said:
...the prayer is nothing, but the faith is everything.
I disagree. The prayer is something special because it leads to connecting with receiving forgiveness with the Lord. This is one of the problems I have with my experience with the “Church of Christ.” There are many services I have attended where there is no call to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. There is no gospel of my salvation in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 that is mentioned. No prayer or dedication is made. It's all about work, work, and no grace.
I believe we are saved by living holy unto the Lord, but this is done only after we are saved by God's grace. If there is no grace, there is no salvation.
You said:
It's just like a marriage vow, brother, except the your Husband has required that you trust Him in all that He says, and then He tells you to be baptized in His name. --It is truly that simple, it is truly how the gospel of Jesus Christ commences and ends.
I agree that declaring Jesus as Lord of your life and dedicating or vowing your life to follow everything He said is important and missing in today's churches. This is Romans 10:9. It is a truth that is missing today. The church needs to get to this truth. But I do not think that the lack of this being preached prevents others from being saved in other ways. If this was not the case, then nobody would be saved and have a true change of life by their acceptance of Christ genuinely. I think many start off correctly believing in one part of Scripture that is true, but then they can potentially fall away later due to a church's teaching on promoting how they can sin and still be saved. Take for example Chick Publications. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and was saved via by the tract “
This Was Your Life” back in 1992. It was until recently I discovered that they appear to be for Belief Alone-ism. When I recently read David W. Daniel's book in defense on the King James being the Word of God, I had learned he preached that we are saved by “
Believing in Christ alone + nothing mantra” (Which is a false misunderstanding on Ephesians 2:8-9). I believe Paul was talking about being saved by the 1st process of salvation (i.e. God's grace) in Ephesians 2:8-9 (cf. Ephesians 2:1). Paul was talking about how we are not saved by “Works Alone” without God's grace. This does not mean Paul did not teach salvation by Sanctifiation after being saved by God's grace (2 Thessalonians 2:13, Romans 8:13, Titus 1:16, 1 Corinthians 16:22).
You said:
Why not just obey Him, in all that He says?
Really? Have you not read any of my posts in this thread?
Did I not initially praise the tract you provided because it defended the 2nd process of salvation (i.e. Sanctification or living holy unto the Lord)?
I am for obeying in everything that the Lord tells us to do. I believe we are saved by two processes or works of God (under our free will cooperation). I believe we are saved by:
#1. God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ (which is an aspect of salvation that is without the deeds of the Law) (This is 1st work of God or the 1st step of salvation. This is “Initial Salvation“ or “Foundational Salvation.”) (Being saved by God's grace is believing the gospel according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, calling upon the name of the Lord, i.e. the Sinner's Prayer) (Romans 10:13), and confessing that “Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10:9) (Which can be done in the “Sinner's Prayer” or publicly before others) (Note: It can also include an invitation of receiving Christ, too - John 1:12).
#2. Sanctification (i.e. Holy living by God's power, which is putting away sin, doing good works, and obeying the commands that come from Jesus and His followers) (This is the 2nd Process of Salvation or the 2nd work of God done in our life after we are saved by God's grace).
I reject “Belief Alone-ism” or “Sola Fide.”
James makes it clear that we are justified by works and not by faith alone according to James 2:24.
Side Note 1:
I just re-read the tract more carefully. I actually think the tract now is preaching another gospel because there is no gospel as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. I believe the tract promotes “Works Alone Salvationism” (without God's grace) because it denies calling upon the name of the Lord in prayer for salvation and the true gospel. If there was a place that it admits in calling upon the Lord by way of a special prayer for salvation, and the true gospel (according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4), then please show me the page number in the tract.
A person needs to first be forgiven of their sin before they can obey.
Again, according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: The gospel is defined as believing that Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was risen three days later according to the Scriptures. This is the gospel and it usually goes hand in hand with calling upon the name of the Lord (i.e. the Sinner's Prayer) (See: Romans 10:13). The tract quotes Romans 10:13 about calling upon the name of the Lord, but it ignores this truth. How do you see calling upon the name of the Lord? Is that not the Sinner's Prayer? What do you do with 1 Corinthians 15:1-4? Do you ignore this gospel? This gospel is not present in the tract you provided. Without this gospel, a person cannot be saved. This is a serious error in the tract you presented.
I have no clue as to why Jesus died on the cross and was risen from the grave with the tract you gave. Obeying without the gospel of my salvation is not obedience. We need to first know about the gospel of our salvation in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. We need to know why Jesus died, and was risen. This truth is gone from your tract. Hence, the tract (you endorse) is preaching another gospel.
Side Note 2:
I also noticed that the tract subtly pushes “soul sleep.” While I believe the Lake of Fire will annihilate or erase the wicked after a certain amount of time, I do not think the story of the rich-man and Lazarus was metaphorical. There is no indication in the text that this is so. I believe Ecclesiastes 9:5 is possibly referring to how the wicked will go through long periods of sleep in hell, but this does not mean they are not conscious at other times. We have to look at the whole counsel of God's Word to piece together the truth on hell. Note: I do not believe the Bible teaches that the rich-man was screaming in pain within the flames. This means that Hollywood and or preachers who teach otherwise are not teaching something that is biblical. No verse or passage in the Bible teaches that hell is a place where people scream in the flames of hell. Although, the Bible teaches that hell is a real literal place that is extremely uncomfortable (i.e. it is a place of torment).